Review: Snowbound by Blake Crouch

Blake Crouch writes unapologetic, lean, mean, action-packed novels. Dark Matter was a mind-bending roller-coaster; each instalment in his Wayward Pines trilogy was a pulse-pounding tour-de-force. And Snowbound, one of his earlier books, is a breakneck thriller, chock full of action from page one. I devoured it in a single sitting on a warm spring day, and will reserve reading another for a day at the beach, or on a plane, when all I’m looking for is pure escapism.

Snowbound begins when attorney Will Innis’s wife fails to come home from a late night at work, and her car is found on a notorious strip of Arizona highway. There is no sign of her. She is missing, presumed dead. Will, certain the investigating detective will pin his wife’s disappearance on him, absconds with his 11-year-old daughter Devlin, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, and for five years they move around, never staying too long in a single location. Then one day there’s a knock at his door, and Kalyn Sharp of the FBI storms into Will and Devlin’s lives. Only she believes Will is innocent; and believes his wife might still be alive. Engaging in an off-the-the-books operation, this unlikely trio seek to unravel the mystery, which concludes with an explosive climax at a remote Alaskan resort.

This is a book loaded with contrivances and ethereal characters. Some of the motivations are suspect, and its plot’s has all the hallmarks of a B-Grade 80s action movie. But set against that is the fact that it’s breathlessly exciting. It’s a page-turner, in the truest sense of the word. Snowbound is a book for the Matthew Reilly fan; the reader who wants a focus on action rather than character. It won’t be to every reader’s taste, but Blake Crouch clearly had a game plan with Snowbound, and he executes it perfectly.